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How Hogwarts would Change

I've been thinking about Next-Gen fics and reading up on some characterisation threads, and am interested in Sorting after the Trio have left.

JK told us that things changed at Hogwarts and Slytherin was diluted (I think that's her phrase) so they weren't the EVIL!HOUSE any longer.

What I'm wondering is how they managed to change the attutudes of each House (Gryffindor are just as prejudiced against Slytherin after all) when they still used the same Hat for Sorting. The hat contains the brains of the Founders, so wouldn't it still Sort the way it has for hundreds of years?

Do you think the Hogwarts Professors modified the Hat in some way, or was there just a change in curriculum or something so there was more inter-House unity?

I know a lot of you write Next Gen, so any advice on how you think Hogwarts changed would be very useful.

Well, the Sorting Hat selects students according to what the Founders wanted in their respective houses. Slytherin wanted students who were ambitious, cunning, and pure-blooded. A lot of writers who'd like to pretend that pureblood prejudice was something that only came along afterwards ignore that part, but it's made explicit several times in the books that Salazar Slytherin was opposed to Mudbloods coming to Hogwarts (as if building the Chamber wasn't proof enough).

This does make one wonder, though, why the Hat then put non-purebloods like Tom Riddle and Severus Snape in Hogwarts.

One answer is that the Hat doesn't necessarily know everyone's blood status. It can look inside a student's head, and seems to be able to "hear" what the person is thinking, but that doesn't mean it's truly telepathic and is able to instantly browse through each child's entire life history in the few moments it's sitting on his or her head. So maybe when it doesn't know for sure whether or not someone is a pureblood, it goes by other attributes; Snape and Riddle, by their attitudes, probably convinced it that they were pureblood, or close enough, and had the other attitudes Slytherin wanted.

Another answer is that the Hat has some autonomy. We know that it wanted House unity -- the Hat itself mused that perhaps it was doing a disservice by Sorting students. So while it knows that Slytherin was a pureblood fanatic, Slytherin has been dead for a thousand years, and it's free to choose based on what it thinks is best for each house.

I don't think the teachers would change the Hat, or force it to start putting more non-purebloods in Slytherin. Rather, I think they would try to eradicate pureblood prejudice, and reduce the interhouse animosity. Hopefully they'll do a better job than they did in the series. Dumbledore may have been a great wizard, but he did diddly-squat while watching three generations of Death Eaters rising right under his nose. What Hogwarts really needs is classes in morals and ethics, messages about unity and tolerance, etc. The sort of thing most schools do today (with varying effectiveness).

The attitude of pureblood supremacy is what needs to be diluted, not the purebloods themselves. Also, it will be pretty important to try to reduce anti-Slytherin prejudice as well. Although Slytherins in the books were pretty nasty, one can hardly blame them -- they arrive at school and find out that the other three houses all regard them as evil. If the new batch of Slytherins arrives at Hogwarts post-war and finds everyone blaming them for Voldemort and still treating them like Death Eaters-in-training, then house relations aren't likely to improve.

Basically, it will take a lot more work to fix things than just changing how Sorting works.

One random idea I had: how about Sorting the students not when they join the school, but a year after they join? (i.e. as they enter their second year.) It would at least ensure that the kids give others a chance instead of going: 'Oh no! He's gone into Slytherin! He must be evil! Et cetera!'

One random idea I had: how about Sorting the students not when they join the school, but a year after they join? (i.e. as they enter their second year.) It would at least ensure that the kids give others a chance instead of going: 'Oh no! He's gone into Slytherin! He must be evil! Et cetera!'

While this is a very original, and definitely very interesting idea, I think we have to keep in mind the mindset of the wizarding world. People don't seem to embrace change with widespread hands, and cling desperately to their old-fashioned ideas and antique mannerisms.

Dumbledore was definitely different, and he had the will to change things-- he let a werewolf study in his school, he let the same werewolf work in his school, and did a whole lot of other things... which I can't recall right now. But he did things, because he was Dumbledore. Now, on the other hand, a person such as McGonagall? I really can't see her being quite that radical, and working hard against the overwhelming opinions of the wizarding world to change something that is a legend-- the Sorting.

One thing I saw in another fic (and this relates to Inverarity's curriculum change) is that they taught Modern History of Magic. Obviously Binns wasn't going to do that, but the Carrows had exorcised him, (in this fic) so Flitwick (who was headmaster) brought in another teacher who would teach the recent stuff, so it was relevent. I don't know about other countries but in the UK we certainly learn about twentieth century events as well as all the kings and queens of Britain.

Another thing I wondered was how about making Muggle Studies compulsory ? The Carrows did it, and I imagine the following Hogwarts year would have to have some radical deprogramming option going on for all those that went through that year under Alecto.

Well... this isn't a big change, but what if the common rooms were moved? I mean, Slytherins would seem less 'evil' if they didn't lurk in a dank, dark, underground dungeon for 7years. And the Ravenclaws might mingle more if they came down from the lofty perch that is their tower...

One thing that could help ease inter-House tensions post DH would be the Heads of the Houses getting more involved in the day to day lives. Spending more time in the COmmon Room, eating at the House table occasionally instead of the staff table, etc.

In the books, we very rarely see McGonagall doing much in her role as Head of Gryffindor other than punishing students (and dealing with the Quidditch team, of course!). Having Heads make a concerted effort to ease tensions and fight stereotypes could go a long way towards solving the problem.

One thing that could help ease inter-House tensions post DH would be the Heads of the Houses getting more involved in the day to day lives. Spending more time in the COmmon Room, eating at the House table occasionally instead of the staff table, etc.

In the books, we very rarely see McGonagall doing much in her role as Head of Gryffindor other than punishing students (and dealing with the Quidditch team, of course!). Having Heads make a concerted effort to ease tensions and fight stereotypes could go a long way towards solving the problem.

But eek, would you WANT McGonagall in the Common Room while you're trying to complain about your homework load and work on some rule-breaking? Or would you want her peering over the rim of her glasses at you during breakfast, inquiring about whether you'd done your homework?

Actually I think parties like Slughorn's might be carried on with even after he left. There wasn't much inter-house tension in the Slug-Club, they were all the same elite

Also, I think Muggle Studies as a compulsory subject isn't a bad idea. They could teach how Muggles aren't so different from Wizards, and things like that. That would definitely help fight prejudices...

This completely gorgeous banner, which makes me happier than a squirrel, was made by Hokey

But I think something very important to consider when you are creating a future Hogwarts is who is going to be the teaching staff. I always get secretly annoyed when I see stories where McGonagall is still the headmistress by the time Albus and Rose begin attending Hogwarts. In interviews, J.K. has repeatedly mentioned that by the time these two begin attending school, McGonagall has retired because she is 'getting on a bit'. I don't think it is unreasonable to think she might still be there when Teddy begins, but I don't think she would have stayed through his entire education.

As for potential heamasters, Flitwick and Sprout would certainly be possible candidates. We can see from Hogwarts history that headmasters most often start out as teachers, so it seems quite likely that the future headmaster would be one of the former teachers.

Then we also need to consider who is being replace. We would certainly need a new teacher to replace the new headmaster. I also think that Slughorn would have certainly retired by this point in time, so we would certainly need a new Potions teacher. It is mentioned that Hagrid is still at Hogwarts, though we don't know for certain if he is still teaching or if he is 'getting on' as well.

We don't know very much about most of the elective teachers, so they are more or less OCs, and it is completely up to you with what to do with them.

I always get secretly annoyed when I see stories where McGonagall is still the headmistress by the time Albus and Rose begin attending Hogwarts. In interviews, J.K. has repeatedly mentioned that by the time these two begin attending school, McGonagall has retired because she is 'getting on a bit'.

She contradicted herself in Tales of Beedle the Bard, which states that McGonagall did indeed become Headmistress.